Thinking about buying 2011 i5...thoughts

I was originally looking at getting a brand new 27in iMac from the apple store for around $3,000, but then my buddy decided to sell is 2011 i5 for $650. I am a graphic designer and my creative suite crawls when I am working in it. In photoshop in particular I have to wait 30 seconds for a 50mb file to open.

So my questions are do you think I will see a significant increase in speed while working in creative suite with the i5. I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb as soon as I get it.

I know it will be faster, but I guess my concern is, that I have never purchased a used computer before, and I don't want to be disappointed. So if anyone out there has had a similar scenario could you let me know how it went.

I was originally looking at getting a brand new 27in iMac from the apple store for around $3,000, but then my buddy decided to sell is 2011 i5 for $650. I am a graphic designer and my creative suite crawls when I am working in it. In photoshop in particular I have to wait 30 seconds for a 50mb file to open.

So my questions are do you think I will see a significant increase in speed while working in creative suite with the i5. I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb as soon as I get it.

I know it will be faster, but I guess my concern is, that I have never purchased a used computer before, and I don't want to be disappointed. So if anyone out there has had a similar scenario could you let me know how it went.

Thanks

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Buy it. Stick an SSD in it if you can. You'll be happy for many years to come. Even if you don't do the SSD option you will see a HUGE increase in performance. C2D to an i5 is a significant upgrade. I don't know much about the US prices but that looks like a good deal to me.

I'm perfectly happy with the speed of my 2011 i5 2.7Ghz 27" iMac. No problem with opening large files in Photoshop. I did put in the 32 GB RAM, but 16 would likely be enough for your situation. I also have installed a 480GB SSD and left the original 1TB drive in place.

As far as the SSD, it REALLY speeds up loading from the drive. Unbelievably fast. It wasn't so difficult to install, either if you're gentle and take your time. (and no shortcuts)

Officially, this model supports four 4 GB modules -- one in each slot for a maximum of 16 GB of memory. However, third-parties have discovered that it actually will support 32 GB of memory using four 8 GB modules.

I've got four 8GB modules of Crucial RAM in mine, with no problem. Many other brands will work, too. Just go to crucial's site, or OWC, or others, and put in your imac model number to find the correct RAM.

I'm perfectly happy with the speed of my 2011 i5 2.7Ghz 27" iMac. No problem with opening large files in Photoshop. I did put in the 32 GB RAM, but 16 would likely be enough for your situation. I also have installed a 480GB SSD and left the original 1TB drive in place.

As far as the SSD, it REALLY speeds up loading from the drive. Unbelievably fast. It wasn't so difficult to install, either if you're gentle and take your time. (and no shortcuts)

I am no way afilliated with OWC, but have used many of their products.

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sorry to hijack this thread, i have a 27" 2011 imac which i bought refurbished. i was thinking about getting an SSD that connected through thunderbolt, but do you mean i can put one internal and still have the original internal drive in there too?

sorry to hijack this thread, i have a 27" 2011 imac which i bought refurbished. i was thinking about getting an SSD that connected through thunderbolt, but do you mean i can put one internal and still have the original internal drive in there too?

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Yep... There's a second, unused SATA connector on the logic board that you connect it to. The SSD itself sits behind the Optical drive, with the original drive remaining in place.

The installation video guide linked in my above post shows exactly how to do it, and what's needed in the way of cables and tools.

Officially, this model supports four 4 GB modules -- one in each slot for a maximum of 16 GB of memory. However, third-parties have discovered that it actually will support 32 GB of memory using four 8 GB modules.

I've got four 8GB modules of Crucial RAM in mine, with no problem. Many other brands will work, too. Just go to crucial's site, or OWC, or others, and put in your imac model number to find the correct RAM.

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Where do you get the 8gb modules as the ones they offer are only in 4's

I was originally looking at getting a brand new 27in iMac from the apple store for around $3,000, but then my buddy decided to sell is 2011 i5 for $650. I am a graphic designer and my creative suite crawls when I am working in it. In photoshop in particular I have to wait 30 seconds for a 50mb file to open.

So my questions are do you think I will see a significant increase in speed while working in creative suite with the i5. I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb as soon as I get it.

I know it will be faster, but I guess my concern is, that I have never purchased a used computer before, and I don't want to be disappointed. So if anyone out there has had a similar scenario could you let me know how it went.

Thanks

Click to expand...

You are going to see a huge difference from your current computer and save a LOT of money. Install more ram (32 GB) and SSD and you will drool over it's speed. You will be saving close to $2000!

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